Ethan Evelyn Leo Novel My Wife Knows My Secret

1
The day my wife, Evelyn, discovered I had a Rebirth System, she started killing me. Over and over, all for himher long-lost love.
The first time, it was a carbon monoxide leak while I slept.
The second, a hit-and-run she arranged.
Every death was different, but one thing never changed: we both looped back to the beginning, to the same starting point.
When I confronted her, my heart shattering with each word, her explanation was a chillingly simple blade to the gut.
Leo isn't like you, Ethan. You have endless chances to come back. He only gets to live to twenty-two.
And so, every time, in the very moment Leos last breath rattled in his chest, she would end my life to reset the clock. I tried to run, to escape her, but I wasn't from this world. No matter how far I fled, Evelyn always found me.
But after my one-hundredth death, something new happened. I unlocked an achievement.
Host, you only need to die one more time to return to your original world.
Evelyn was already plotting the next reset, completely unaware that for us, there would be no 'next time.'

My eyes snapped open. I was back in the house I shared with Evelyn. There was no joy, only a hollow numbness as I stared at the enormous wedding photo hanging on the wall. In it, we were cheek to cheek, the very picture of devotion.
Back then, the citys elite all whispered the same story: Evelyn Hale, the heiress to a fortune, was madly in love with me. She had to be. Her grand gestures were the stuff of legends. Shed bought out every luxury car dealership in the city to serve as my personal garage and sunk a billion dollars into my fledgling startup just to see if it would float.
I believed she loved me, too. Wholeheartedly.
But everything changed the day Leo returned to the country.
Just then, the front door flew open. Evelyns eyes scanned the living room before locking onto me. She strode forward, collapsing into my arms.
Ethan, youre still here. Thank God. Her arms tightened around me, a crushing force, as if trying to merge our bodies into one. Anyone else would have thought it was an embrace of relief, of affection.
But I knew the truth. She was terrified of losing her chance to complete her list of a hundred little things with Leo.
Just as quickly, she pulled back, her hand gently tracing the brow bone above my eye. Her touch was a phantom of the last death. Shed dosed me with something powerfully addictive and locked me in the bedroom. The withdrawal was agony, and my only relief was smashing my head against the wall, again and again, until my skull fractured and my brain gave out.
Of all the ways I had died, that was the most brutal, the most torturous.
Ethan, can you just wait a little longer? Please? she pleaded, her voice soft. There are only a few things left on the list. Once I finish them with Leo, I promise, it will just be you and me. We can have a good life together.
This was the promise I had once yearned for. Now, her words were just ashes in my mouth.
I subtly eased away from her touch. The housekeeper made dinner. Are you staying tonight? I asked, my voice flat. I already knew the answer. It was a token question.
Evelyn seemed to sense my new distance. She knelt, taking my hands in hers, her eyes wide with a performers sincerity. Ethan, was it too painful last time? Im so sorry.
Dont worry, she promised, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. This time, Ill make it quick. I wont let you suffer for long.
A bitter, silent laugh echoed in my soul. Did she even see me as a person anymore? Or was I just a machine, a reset button for her tragic love story?
Seeing my lack of response, she opened her mouth to say more, but the shrill ring of her phone cut her off.
It was Leo.
She shot me an apologetic glance before stepping away to take the call. It was always the same. Any moment we had alone was inevitably shattered by him. I was used to it.
Even from across the room, I could hear Leos choked sobs through the phone. Evelyns face melted with concern, her voice a low, soothing murmur as she comforted him.
After hanging up, she turned to me. I cant stay for dinner. Somethings come up with Leo. I have to go to him right now.
I knew it was coming, but my heart still gave a painful lurch.
I gave a curt, noncommittal nod. I understand.
She grabbed her cashmere coat from the sofa and headed for the door, then paused, as if just remembering I was there. She glanced back.
You just wait for me at home, okay?
Then she was gone, her departure as swift and final as all the other times shed left me behind.
But this time, a genuine smile touched my lips.
This time, I was the one leaving her.
It wasn't long after Evelyn left that I began to plan my own exit.
I wandered aimlessly into the kitchen, my eyes landing on the long, gleaming blade of a chefs knife. It was a custom piece, commissioned by Evelyn from a master craftsman, all so her sashimi would have the perfect, clean cut.
It had also been the instrument of my tenth death. Shed been clumsy then, new to the act of killing. Each cut had been a slow, agonizing torment that lasted for what felt like an eternity.
My gaze drifted to the deep, stainless-steel sink. Shed held my head under the water in that sink once, the life bubbling out of me in a desperate, silent scream. Id experienced a grim variety of endingsId even been thrown from a skyscraper.
To avoid a public spectacle, I decided on the cleanest, quickest method I could think of: a handful of pills with a bottle of vintage red.
Id just pulled the wine from the rack when my phone began to buzz with messages from mutual friends.
What the hell is going on with Evelyn? Shes all over the gossip sites with Leo.
I thought you two were inseparable. Is something wrong?
Mixed in with the concerned texts were the sneering ones, telling me my dream of marrying into wealth was over and it was time to wake up.
I clicked the link one of them sent. News alerts exploded on my screen. The internet was flooded with paparazzi photos of Evelyn and Leo. Holding hands under a sky full of fireworks. A passionate kiss in public.
I knew what it was. Number ninety-eight on their list: flaunt their love for the world to see. It didn't matter how reckless they were. One reset, and the worlds memory would be wiped clean.
Just then, a new text came in. It was from Leo.
Ethan Foster, Im never giving Evelyn back to you.
It wasnt the first time hed sent a message like this. After a hundred loops, I had the words memorized. I could even picture the smug look on his face, could anticipate what was coming next.